Bam-wham. Is it just me or is the Universe working at a really accelerated rate to get us to where we want to be – and where It wants us to be – right now?

These last few weeks through the end of 2016 and the first few days of 2017 have felt like an energetic ball of fire blowing through me. Swirling up dozens of my patterns, bringing them up for release.

Among the multitude of things that have come up for me are an old, old pattern from childhood – an incident I knew was of significance but had no idea quite how much – that had me putting constant checks on how I allowed myself to be in my interactions with others.

Glad to get to the root of that one.

Now to integrate the awareness that it’s Safe to be me, whether other people like and accept Authentic Me or not.

There’s also been a lot coming up around control.

My tendency towards obedience to rules without questioning. My irrational fear of authority figures. My ingrained pattern of submitting and yielding my power to both those in societal positions of power; and those who I feel are somehow superior to me – whether that be in strength, age, wisdom, knowledge or experience.

My co-dependent tendencies that have allowed me to be manipulated and controlled by others in relationship.

The same tendencies that have had me also trying to manipulate and control others – particularly their opinions of me.

Always striving to be the kind, compassionate, loving friend, colleague or partner who overlooks and forgives. Justifying and rationalizing behavior that dishonors me or the relationship out of a long-nursed fear of losing the other person’s love if I allow the Kali-infused incensed part of my personality that wants to honor my Truth to raise its voice.

Swallowing my pain instead of asking for what I need.

My new commitment to myself is to voice my needs and what I desire to experience, even when I’m scared of the possible consequences.

I am trusting that what is meant for me will stay; the rest be blown away in the wind.

More “stuff” coming up around the way I give my authority and power away to others by taking on too much advice and too many opinions instead of allowing myself to be the only and sovereign power in my life.

Choosing to deepen into trusting my intuitive knowing about the path my Soul is leading me on instead.

Clearing and releasing around the ways I have dishonored others and allowed them to dishonor me.

Committing to step up into a more authentic relationship with my Voice in relationships with others.

Accepting that it’s okay for others to be upset with me sometimes. That I’m probably not being true to myself if they’re not.

Letting go of my need to “control” and take responsibility for things that are not mine.

Setting myself free of all that extraneous, unnecessary drama.

Starting to let people be who they are without trying to change or “save” them.

Letting the world be what it is without resistance.

Being okay with “what is” however that presents. Knowing some things are beyond my control and others – yes, you got it – nothing to do with me.

Releasing the feeling that I need to make things better for people; “rescue” them from their pain; or take their problem away.

Knowing it is only when we face our pain and come through it that we reap the seeds of true joy and authenticity; that I dishonor others when I take their experience away.

So much forgiveness coming up, too.

Forgiveness for myself.

Forgiveness for former partners.

Forgiveness up and down my ancestral lines.

Forgiveness also asked for the whole of humanity and the way we have dishonored the Earth, ourselves, each other.

Issues around abundance rising to the surface; an opening up to receive more of mine.

Releasing my distrust and dislike of the feminine.

The part of me that perceives it as weak, submissive, unvoiced, powerless.

The part of me that perceives it as wild, sensual, passionate, untamed: is scared of embracing that power.

Awakening to the knowing that I desire to embody the Divine in a more feminine way. To not only deepen into meditation and spiritual practices; but to also embrace the vital, alive, playful and sensuous being that is the feminine embodiment of all that I Am.

Opening up; allowing myself to be expressed as a fully-embodied sensual woman. Exploring what that means for me.

Allowing myself to reclaim all the places where I’ve held myself back for fear of being “too much.”

Giving myself permission to be a strong and powerful woman; not just a soft and gentle one.

Embracing – whispering words of comfort and strength to – my resistance, my fear around being vulnerable; my resistance and fear around being seen; being fully me; relinquishing my habit of making myself “smaller” and “less than” so I fit in better with what society wants and/or expects of me.

Allowing myself to step into and own my magnificence; the light and radiance that I Am.

Many of these are things that I’ve worked on before: now I’m revisiting them on a deeper level.

I know these patterns are not necessarily 100% cleared. I know we’re always a work in progress – that there’s always more love and expansiveness we can grow into.

I don’t need to be told that I now need to translate these a-ha moments and the stuff I’ve cleared around them into real and discernible change in my life.

But I also know that a significant amount of transformation and the transmuting of these energies has already taken place. It’s felt huge, powerful, expansive and life-changing.

With the unexpected sighting of Venus on January second – I felt drawn to go outside for a walk shortly before dusk and when I looked at the sky I had no idea what to think. It was like there was a very bright and unusually placed star close to, and in perfect alignment with, the moon. I felt a powerful surge of energy fill me as I gazed on these two orbs of light in the night sky; seemingly so close, yet so far away.

On returning home and finding out it was Venus, I did a bit of Internet sleuthing.

“Venus is a very advanced spiritual place, with highly developed arts and a fantastic system of spiritual healing and cosmic schools,” I read.*

Yes, I am totally ready to receive and welcome some more of that energy into my cells and life.

It felt like yet another confirmation of the miraculous and game-changing time we are living in.

I am so thankful to the guides, angels and Masters who have helped – and are helping – me to clear so much with ease and grace; who nudged me to go outside at just the right time to experience the Cosmos align in this way.

It feels like we are being called to open up to and expand into so much more of our power and Truth.

I feel the Universe there guiding and supporting us every step of the way; sending guides and angels and the perfect healing modalities to intercede for us as we do.

Yes, the Universe really does have my/(our) back(s).

I know my strength and my power do not lie in my Ego; but in my Soul, the Oversoul and my connection to Divine Source.

In trusting in, surrendering to, that connection.

May I continue to allow myself to expand into more of my authentic power; an ever-more intimate relationship with Source.

May we all continue to expand into more of our authentic power and an ever-more intimate relationship with our Source.

I am sending out love and golden rays of light, peace and joy to be with you at the start of this New Year my friends.

(While fully admitting that politics isn’t my forte, I felt compelled to try to say something that might speak to the events of this year).

2016 has been a year of unpredicted whirlwind changes on the world stage.

June saw approximately half of UK voters cast their vote to leave the EU.

That night I watched the number of constituencies voting to leave steadily rise with a sick sense of disbelief deep in the pit of my stomach.

I wasn’t the only one.

“What have we done?” asked one of my friends on Facebook. (A Remain voter).

“How can this be happening?” were the first words of another.

With an eerie sense of deja vu, I’ve seen many American friends express the same sense of shock and disbelief in the wake of the Presidential elections.

Both the UK and the USA – despite their umpteen deplorable mistakes that have left deep scars on the face of history – have been in many ways proponents of humanitarian values.

We now find ourself in the situation where they are – politically speaking – leaning heavily towards the right.

This seems to have given hardcore nationalism, white supremacy and the minuscule percentage of people who subscribe to them the license to rear their ugly heads. Spates of xenophobia and other hate crimes followed close behind in both countries.

Although it is edifying to see the amount of support for the targeted minorities and that these incidents have been swiftly dealt with by the authorities, it is easy to surmise that the political, moral and ethical landscape in the UK and the US has shifted beyond recognition.

It is as if the values that we thought our countries stood for have been swept away from under our feet.

Overnight.

People from both sides of the political spectrum feel the pain of this.

Many who were on the “losing side” feel that far exceeding any personal sense of loss, the result is a loss for the nation; a loss for the world.

Stranded in this sea of uncertainty and tumultuous change many of us feel anchorless. Ungrounded. Like strangers in our homeland.

We are shaken to our core; no longer able to identify with the badge of belonging which has been ours for so long.

In this sea of dismay and despair, it can be easy to feel like we have little say in the way our lives are determined.

We can feel like our lives are controlled by external events; forces bigger than us – things that are beyond our control.

When we do, we give away our power.

The truth is that we are the biggest force in our own lives.

We are the source of our power.

Reeling after the Brexit decision back in June, it took me a couple of days to remember that I am the authority in my own life and reclaim my power.

When I did, I wrote these words:

“I am not defined by my nationality. I can and do choose to embrace inclusive values, love and compassion; even if the leader(s) of my country or some of my fellow countrymen do not. I can hope that the leadership that emerges will also choose to embrace these and other such noble qualities. I can commit to doing all that is within my power to sow seeds of love that will grow in the hearts and lives of others and to spread compassion in the world.”

This is where our power resides:

In our response.

We always have the power to choose the way we want to show up in the world.

We always have the power to choose the values we want to uphold and embody.

That the political, moral and ethical landscape is always changing is not a fact we often consider.

Referendums and presidential elections may emphasize and draw our attention to this; but the political arena is not where the moral and ethical landscapes of our countries are created.

The power to create the moral and ethical landscape of our nation resides within us: in the moment-to-moment choices we make, and the values we source them in.

As sovereign beings, we always have the power of choice.

We have the power to choose who we want to be and how we want to show up in the world – how we want to act, speak and respond – in each and every moment of our lives.

The current state of the world is calling us to step up into that power.

To claim our authority.

To develop increasing mastery of ourself.

To bring more consciousness to the world we are co-creating together.

To step into the fullness of our power as co-creators.

It is asking each one of us to examine who we are and who we want to be.

It is asking us to examine our values.

It is asking us to commit to all that we believe is good and pure and true.

It is asking us to uphold these things.

It is asking us to do these things now.

So that we can create a better world for ourselves, and for each other.

Now is the time for us to shine our light.

Without the darkness of the night, the brilliance of the new day cannot be seen or comprehended.

The darkness of intolerance, greed and hate; disrespect for each other, our fellow creatures and our planet is the stark contrast that is calling us to boldly shine our light forth in the world as never before.

The world needs our light.

The inequalities, divisions and discriminations that have permeated our society for so long; deeply embedded but all too often denied and discounted; have at last broken the surface and are exposed, in plain view for all to see.

This sense of decline we feel; this sense that as a nation, and as nations, our collective backs have been turned and we have regressed to the divisive politics of bygone years – this is our medicine.

This is what – if we allow it, will empower us to diagnose and treat the greed, superiority and hatred; the politics of fear and division; the legacy of suspicion and mistrust of difference that is a cancerous cell embedded deep within the heart of humanity.

We cannot treat a disease that we do not know is there.

Nor one which we refuse to acknowledge.

We have made gigantic leaps and bounds in many parts of the world towards embracing inclusive policies and equal rights. It is right that we should celebrate this.

Now the shadow has come into plain view again so that we can heal it on an even deeper and more profound level.

It is not the politicians and world leaders who have the ability do this; though they have their role to play.

The power resides with us.

It is up to each one of us to take on the task of healing and transmuting the darkness. Turning it into light:

One loving thought at a time; one loving word at a time; one loving act at a time.

We begin with ourself.

Noticing the shadow within us – the places where we act from fear, greed and hate – surrendering it; breathing in love instead.

The love we breathe in is a love that embraces the whole of humanity.

A love that embraces the whole of life.

It is akin to the concept of love expressed in the word Namaste:

I honor the place in you in which the entire Universe dwells, I honor the place in you which is of Love, of Integrity, of Wisdom and of Peace. When you are in that place in you, and I am in that place in me, we are One.

The question to ask ourself is are we acting from this space of Love?

Are the moment-to-moment choices we are making coming from this space in which we honor the whole of humanity, the whole of life, as expressions of divine Source; each equally worthy, each deserving of our love and compassion?

Are the moment-to-moment choices we make – choosing one thought over another; one word in place of another; one action instead of another – grounded in love and compassion; rooted in a desire for the freedom of all sentient beings to live happy and fulfilling lives?

Choosing thoughts, words and deeds that seek to understand and find value in others; that let be and continue to treat with respect and dignity those with whom we find ourselves to be irreconcilable with in some way.

Choosing thoughts, words and deeds that unite us in our common humanity, whilst also respecting its multifaceted faces.

Choosing thoughts, words and deeds that join us together in mutual compassion and understanding, discarding those that drive us apart.

As each of us chooses to act from this space of love and compassion, as this ripples out into the lives of the people around us, we change the moral and ethical landscape of our nation.

This is the tremendous force of the power that resides within us.

The power to choose and – by our choices – change the face of our nation.

The power to choose and – by our choices – change the face of the world.

Each of us has a unique soul blueprint imprinted indelibly in our cells. Our soul blueprint holds the key to our happiness. Activating it is the key to living self-expressed, authentic and joyful lives.

We tend to think of our soul as disembodied, independent of us. We conceive of our physical body as belonging to this world; and our soul as something apart. Far from this, our soul is woven into the very fabric of our being and the two are inextricably intertwined. It is the non-physical that breathes life into the physical. Our physical body is infused with the energy of our soul, and we are in constant communication / interaction with it throughout the day – whether we know it or not.

Our soul can never be apart from us; it is the essence of who we are.

What defines whether we are activating our soul blueprint or not is how closely we are listening to the communications of our soul and living into alignment with them.

Our soul is speaking to us all the time. It speaks to us through our emotions and intuition. It speaks to us in the silence of our heart space. It speaks to us in our passions and enthusiasms. It speaks to us in the words of others, or the words of a book, a movie or song.

When we learn to listen to the voice of our soul within us, we are able to step into a truly authentic way of living. A way of living that honors us and who we are. A way of living that nurtures and expresses the essence of who we came here to be.

Our soul speaks to us in each and every moment.

It speaks to us when we feel unenthused, uncomfortable, compromised, fatigued, disinterested; telling us that the course we have embarked upon is not in alignment with our soul.

It speaks to us in the vague unease or the murmurs of discontent that we so often ignore and brush aside.

It speaks to us in our feeling of malaise; in our longing for something more.

It speaks to us in the whispers of desire that we feel in our heart to choose one thing over another; one experience over another.

It speaks to us in moments of happiness, joy, pleasure, gratitude, love, appreciation; telling us that yes, in this moment, we’ve got it! We’re living in alignment with this essence of who we are.

When we live in alignment with our soul we become the happiest, most authentic, most joyful version of ourself; expressing the essence of who we really are in the innermost part of our being.

By choosing to release from our life the things that send us into negative emotion; by choosing to spend more time on doing things that cause us to feel gratitude and joy, we can bring ourself into greater alignment with our soul. As we do, we transform our life. We experience blissful moments of deep connection to our Self and the world around us. We experience the joy of living true to ourself. We begin to live more in the moment, trusting in our soul to lead us and the goodness of the Universe to provide. We value the sacredness of all life – including our own – and begin to honor the truth of who we are and live on purpose. The more we come into alignment with our soul, the more we open ourself up to a radiant joy in Life and the living of it.

Although we are taught to listen to and value the opinions of everyone but ourself, our own inner voice – our soul – is the only one that can guide us true to course in our quest for happiness, fulfillment and joy.

Image courtesy of skeeze, Pixabay.

As we listen to the song of our own heart and deepen into a more intimate relationship with our soul, our soul re-minds us of who we came here to be.

Speaking to us in moments of silence and stillness, it whispers to us our highest and grandest vision of who we could be. It gives us a vision of how we might use our specific gifts and talents, the wisdom garnered from our experiences, to serve the whole and share our light in the world; giving us a beautiful vision of what our life could look like if we surrendered to its call and chose to live our life in conscious alignment with our soul, activating our fullest potential over and over again.

In these moments, our soul is speaking to us of our soul calling.

Written into our soul blueprint are our soul’s callings and purpose. For some of us this may express as a particular job or role; teacher, healer, parent, listener, artist, writer, animal lover, activist, friend.

For all of us, at the most essential level, our soul calling is to co-create with the Universe a life that enables us to experience a deep joy in living and creatively express our love, our passions and our unique essence in the world.

When we hear the calling of our soul, it is up to us to respond; taking the first steps on the journey it is urging us to embark upon.

Too often we make ourselves and our happiness our last priority. In doing so, we fall out of alignment with our soul and the joyful lives we came here to live and experience.

Our soul’s greatest desire is that we feel radiantly, blissfully alive. It wants us to live lives we love; happy, joyful and fulfilled. It wants us to evolve and grow into more of our potential; living beyond our safety zone; reveling in the rich and vibrant experiences we encounter along the way.

This is our soul’s calling.

This is what we came here to do.

This is what we came here to be.

If we have been ignoring it, sweeping it aside; at some point in our life our soul will find a way to grab our attention. It may to do this though illness; the shock of losing a loved one; or some other turbulent event in our life. Perhaps the loss of a job, the break up of a relationship, or some other dramatic change in the circumstances of our life.

At such times of unrest and uncertainty, the voice of our soul rises to the surface demanding more. More happiness; more joy; more peace; more abundance; more health; more well-being; more truth; more love; more energy; a way of living truer to ourself; a way of living that brings more pleasure and joy.

This is a crossroads in our life. We can either go on doing on what we’ve always done, getting the same results – a life lived out of alignment with our soul, the feeling that there’s got to be something more. Or we can make a different choice. Decide it is time to listen to the whisperings of our heart and the voice of our own soul’s wisdom and step up into a new experience of life; one that allows us to expand; one that allows us to open up and experience that something more.

As we open up to our soul, we embark on an ongoing awakening experience; a lifelong journey of living into more of of our truth.

The closer we come into alignment with the truth of our soul, the more we feel our soul calling express itself as a specific role or purpose.

Our soul only speaks to us of our specific soul calling when we are ready.

Its timing is perfect, for it is divinely orchestrated.

We have learned to embrace our experiences and evolve through and beyond them. We are learning to love ourselves first; that it is when we do that we offer the most to others. We are stepping up into honoring ourself and our truth; finding our passion and following that.

It is our time to live authentically and true to ourself. To make our mark on the world in a way that only we can do, following the lead of our deepest soul longing.

This is the voice of God within us. It is up to us to listen to this inner voice and honor our deepest most soul-felt desires.

This seed of longing planted within us before we were born might not seem the most logical course. It may take us in new directions to the ones in which we thought our life was going. It will almost certainly involve courage and risk, and we may be required to leave some of our roles and the people and places we knew behind. We’ll be asked to expand ourselves and our comfort zone over and over again. We’re undoubtably going to encounter new challenges as well as new vistas as we adjust to this new way of being in the world.

The desire planted within us is so strong, the vision of the potential we came here to embody so pure and true, that even when we fear we may not be equal to the task; even when we fear the reactions of others, we find the strength to proceed.

As we take more steps on the path of this grandest and highest vision of ourself, deepen into a life of co-creation with our soul, we see that we are supported.

We learn to trust.

The path of our soul longing is not always the easiest one we can walk, but to live true to ourself and in alignment with our soul is the most important decision we will ever make. It may turn our life upside down, but it also turns it around. At last we are living authentically; at last we are living in integrity with who we are. There is a beautiful feeling of bliss inherent in this.

When what is in our soul blueprint becomes what we live and breathe – when our internal and external worlds are aligned – there is an indescribable sensation of peace, joy and well-being. We feel at ease in the world and more ourself than we’ve ever been. It’s such an overwhelmingly enriching feeling that we no longer care so much for who or what others think we should be or do or say. Our soul’s calling sustains and nourishes us, allowing us to grow into the fullness of our potential. We become living expressions of Source; eloquently expressing the unique essence of who we are and who we came here to be, shining our light brilliantly in the world for all to see.

It takes courage, faith, strength and perseverance to live like this. But although it may be the “road less traveled,” it is the one I wish choose over and over again.

I’ve had the good fortune to meet through my blog and elsewhere online a number of fellow journeyers. I’d like to introduce four of them here. These are people who are actively embracing the truth of who they came here to be, and stepping up into the fullness of their potential. People who have honored the whisperings of their soul and heeded their soul’s calling, turning inspiration into action – even when it means putting themselves out there on a limb.

Four people who have stepped up into what their soul-felt desire was asking them to be and do and, in the purity of their response to their heart’s longing, co-created with the Universe a beautiful gift to be shared with the world.

Noelle Vignola has taken her experiences with meditation and used them to write a beautiful and contemplative book Into Your Meditation. A book which is imbued with the essence of the silence and stillness of the sits she loves so much, and offers the reader “a series of daily, bite-sized mediations (a)rranged in thematic sections of seed, root, stem, branch, leaf, bloom and fruit.”

Tony Gilotte has taken his understanding from years of ministership and combined them with his enthusiasm for the mystic’s spiritual path to write an inspirational book, Beautiful Wanderer, that invites us to look into our lives and see how much closer they are to a spiritual life than we may think. His book acts as a bridge between the Christian and mystical, and encourages us to “find the beauty in (life) like never before.”

Reba Linker has condensed her three decades of study with a spiritual teacher and the “spiritual alchemy that takes the challenges of life and transforms them into the purest spiritual gold to be shared with others,” creating an a la carte menu to share alongside her pre-existing programs in her mission to help more people live “more fulfilled, abundant and joyous lives.”

Rozanne Henry followed her intuitive guidance and her soul’s longing to create 100 paintings – “100 expressions of love.” This act opened her up to receiving more of the Divine Feminine energy, and now she shares this beautiful, soft and gentle – yet powerful – energy in the world through her personalized intuitive commissioned paintings and the sacred spaces she creates for women which invite them to “surrender, allow and receive” and intuitive painting classes which teach women to connect to the Divine Feminine as they paint images of the Feminine in intuitive ways.

In the act of following their soul’s most intimate longing, each of these people has sown seeds of beauty, love and wisdom in the world. Seeds that will not only blossom and bloom in their own life, but also in the lives and hearts of all those they have touched.

Our soul calling is not static; it evolves and expands as we do. I am excited to see how these four people I’m honored to journey with continue to blossom and bloom; where their soul’s longing will take them next.

Regarding the visual content of the site, where the images used are not my own I have done my best to credit the original author. If the author of any such image would like it removed from the site, please contact me and I will oblige as soon as possible.